Nicholas Blais
Nick is more than excited to be joining all the artists in celebration for his very first NEXTFEST. Festival credits include the Set, Light, and Costume design for Vultures, written by Katherine Cullen and directed by Mitchell Cushman (The Living Room Playhouse), and Characters and Violence, written by Kyle Hinton and directed by Ben Janko (The Roxy). Though Nick is a Calgarian, born and bred, he has been happy to make Edmonton his home for the past 3 years. Nick is currently entering his 4th and final year of a BFA in Theatre Design at the U of A where his recent design credits include Little Dog Laughed, a U of A Media Room Production directed by Leigh Rivenbark (SET), June Moon, a U of A Media Room directed by Dave Horak (LIGHTS), and Spine, a U of A co-production with Reel Wheels,assisting set designer Robert Shannon. Following this year’s NEXTFEST, Nick’s Set and Lighting Design, accomplished with Co-designer Haley Reap, will appear in the premiere of A Musta-Be: Maskihkiy Maskwa Iskwew, an Old Earth production written and directed by Jane Heather. In the last week of June, Opera Nuova’s mainstage productions of Romeo and Juliet and Falstaff will showcase Nick’s work as assistant designer and scenic artist to Lee Livingstone. Nick would like to thank the cast and crews of his NEXTFEST shows, the festival staff and technicians that make this incredible experience possible, the sponsors, and the audience that never fails to support the arts; I hope to see you all soon. Enjoy the festival!
Liam Coady
Being the new kid on the Nextfest block, Liam is exceedingly excited to be involved with the festival. Now finished his first year at the University of Alberta as a Drama major, Liam artistic experience resides in his appreciation in acting and his admiration for spoken word poetry. He’s decided to hang about in Edmonton for the summer instead of going back to his roots in Calgary, occupying his time with acting, writing, and growing. You can see him in Kyle Hinton’s Characters & Violence and Jake Prins’s The Juvyline Cubangbang Show as well as reading some of his own poems in the Nextfest Niteclub Rise up! Liam would like to thank the casts and crews of both shows for giving him this opportunity and also to the friends and family in and out of Edmonton’s arts communities for their continuous support!
Katherine Cullen
Before moving to Edmonton this year to pursue her MA in Drama at the University of Alberta, Katherine was working in Montreal's theatre scene for the past four years. While living there, she wrote and workshopped the first draft of Vultures with Playwright's Workshop Montreal. She is happy to have the full-length play premiere at Nextfest 2010, a production which she also appears in. Previous acting credits include A Lie of the Mind (Lorraine), Crave (C), Homeroom (Martha), Jewel (Marjorie), Stepping Out (Dorothy), Summertime (Maria), and Blue Window (Libby). Later this summer she will be apprenticing with Bread and Puppet Theatre in Vermont.
Mitchell is a freelance director and playwright, whose work has been seen in theatres across the country. Recent directing credits include Vultures (Nextfest, Edmonton), A Skull in Connemara (Obstructed View, Halifax), Glengarry Glen Ross (Obstructed View, Toronto), Blue Window (University of Alberta), Reflections on Giving Birth to a Squid (Canadian Tour), Waiting for Godot (KTS, Halifax) and Jumpers (KTS, Halifax). He has also worked as an Assistant Director for some of Toronto’s most well-recognized companies, including Soulpepper (A Month in the Country; Glengarry Glen Ross; Travesties) and Theatre Passe Muraille (Them & Us), collaborating with some of Canada’s most respected directors, including Laszlo Marton, Joe Zeigler, David Storch, Ruth Madoc-Jones and David Ferry. Last year, Mitchell completed a specially-created Artistic Producing Internship at Theatre Passe Muraille, working closely with Artistic Director Andy McKim to foster a stronger connection between the theatre and Toronto’s emerging artist community. He is a founding member of TPM’s Upstarts Creators Group, and recently collaboratively-created Drawing Blood, which played in TPM’s Backspace. He is also the creator of Crapshoot, a cabaret-style evening of developing new work, now a staple of TPM’s regular programming (and launching pad for work such as Haley McGee’s Oh My Irma). In 2009, Mitchell became the youngest student to be accepted into the University of Alberta’s MFA in Directing. He will complete the degree next spring, culminating with his thesis production of Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan (Studio Theatre, May 2011).
Alyson Dicey is from Calgary and is going into her fourth year at the U of A. She completed two years of the BA drama before entering the BFA acting program. You may have seen her in the BFA class of 2012 production of Angry 12 in April, or the 2008 ABBEDAM production of The Madwoman of Chaillot. Or perhaps you saw her in one of the many movement pieces, acting scenes or singing “windows” she has been in over the last year. This is Alyson’s very first Edmonton summer and she is thrilled to be a part of Nextfest. Nextfest 2010 creations: Paula & Strom,
The Juvyline Cubangbang Show.
Ben Janko
Ben is happy to be back with Nextfest as the director for Characters and Violence. Past Nextfests include design for 13 Encounters and stage management for Gayface.
He recently directed the Night Before Christmas at the University, and is currently directing Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? for Happy Bunny Productions at the 2010 Edmonton Fringe. Ben was the manager of the University’s New Works Festival from 2008 – 2010. Recent stage management work includes While We’re Young, Shelter (Citadel’s Young Companies), Bashir Lazhar (Wishbone), the Elephant Man (Studio Theatre), Ubu Roi (Mischief and Mayhem), and apprenticing on Two Gentlemen of Verona and the Winter’s Tale (Freewill Players).
is a freelance performing artist in dance/theatre/film. He is interested in cross-discipline experimentation and using the body as method of communication. Kevin is the founder and Creative Director of New City Collective (NCC), a performance art company and creative event producer based out of Bangkok, Thailand, where he live, trained and worked as a full-time artist for four years (2005-2009). A graduate of Grant MacEwan Theatre Arts in 2004, Kevin has worked with many local and International dance/theatre professionals and works to support and promote both Canadian and International up-and-coming artists. Kevin was last seen at NeXtfest in 2005 as Writer/Creator/Performer of "GRUMPLESTOCKS" with Jon Lachlan Stewart and Trish Lorenz. Kevin can be seen this year in "FIVE" (Dance First, Think Later) and is also part-Coordinator / Installation artist for the TECHNATION Nite Club. Other than that you can catch Kevin somewhere in the lobby of the Roxy as the Front of House Manager. "Artists don't make art, they make conversations. They make things happen. They change the world. "-- William Pope.L (the friendliest black artist in America)
Chaisiri Jiwarangsan
My family runs a pharmacy in an outskirts of Bangkok. Naturally since I was young, I am always interested by ailments and remedies. Most of our customers are factory workers who have migrated from other regions. I have noticed that many of the times, their symptoms are not physical, but emotional. Their stories have provided me lots of insights on Thai society, and on myself. When I can, I often travel and document, mostly through photographs. Gradually, the technique have expanded to include other media. I am fascinated by the process of transformation in people, by financial necessity or by social codes. I started to collaborate with various communities, with people from different backgrounds. I realized that the interaction that later becomes my art making was a medicine that can alleviates my questions of how we live and how we remember the land.
Kris Krol
Kris grew up painting pictures with words on paper, and documenting his surroundings with a photo camera. He started in film in 2000 with acting and working as a grip on low-budget independent productions. Kris hungered for knowledge and experience; he wanted to immerse himself in filmmaking. His duties on set increased and diversified, he was following the Robert Rodriguez motto for filmmaking: learn-by-doing. He started writing scripts, doing extensive research, taking editing courses, and attending writing seminars. In his decade on the indie scene in Edmonton: Kris has acted in three independent features, worked the camera on numerous live music shoots, directed an eco-reality pilot, and has produced and directed several short films. Kris is currently working as a fulltime filmmaker, videographer, and photographer for hire; but ultimately his goal is to simply create socially conscious film with a message of a need for change in the world.
Norton Mah
You may have seen Norton acting in Hull Block (Edm Fringe '05), Buddies (Nextfest '09), Sexbot (Edm Fringe '09), or Zac & Rob: Celebrity Roommates (youtube.com). This past year, he gripped several short films and an alternative ska music video. Current Projects include developing Draft #5, #6, and #7 of an action short, gripping and acting in same short in July. Plus he will start writing a TV spec script for Sanctuary. Look for Norton performing a movement piece at Nextfest Nite Club: Rize Up! and perhaps playing a hobo in The Stank.
Marie is pleased to be a NextFest artist for the first time. She is a 2010 graduate from the U of A Theatre Design program. Recent credits are costumes for "Blue Window"- Media Room and lights for "Crazy for You" - Westbury, with J.H. Picard School. A strong interest of hers is sculpting books, which is leading her to her next project: an artist internship in London, England. Please check out our show "THE SURVIVAL OF THE PIGEONS As Studied by Human Lovers."
Alida Nyquist-Schultz
Alida Nyquist-Schultz is an emerging dance artist in Edmonton, Alberta. She trained at the School of Contemporary Dancers in Winnipeg, receiving her Bachelor of Arts with Honors upon graduation in May 2009. While in Winnipeg, she had the pleasure of working professionally for Stephanie Ballard and Odette Heyn-Penner, and following the completion of her degree she performed for @tendance in Austria and in Winnipeg (C.Medina, Artistic Director). She has been a collective artist of the Good Women dance society since December 2009 and is thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to Edmonton's developing dance community.
Laura Rezko
is thrilled to be working with such a great group on her first NextFest show. She is a recent graduate of the Theatre Design program at the University of Alberta. Her most recent work was as the assistant set designer for The Good Woman of Setzuan(Studio Theatre). Previous works include lighting design for The Dangers of Proposing to Chekhov, set design for Cowboy Mouth, and costumes and masks for Rhinoceros; all FAB Media Room productions. Outside school, Laura has been a tech. assistant for Cowgirl Opera’s PIG, and stage managed Teatro La Quindicina’s What Gives?/Revenge of the South Sea Bubble. She is excited to begin exploring puppetry and animation and ways of integrating them into theatre. Laura would like to work with you. Yes, you!
Kate Stashko
is an independent dance artist, writer and Pilates instructor currently based in Edmonton. Born in Athabasca, Alberta, Stashko is a graduate of the Professional Training Program at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, and has worked with Helen Husak, Jason Stroh, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, the Parahumans Dance Theatre, Once Removed and at various festivals in Toronto and Alberta, including the New Waves Festival at Luminato and the Athabasca Country Fringe Festival. She has also worked as rehearsal director with Heidi Strauss and Andrea Nann Dreamwalker Dance Company.
Kate is a STOTT Pilates® certified instructor and works as Listings Editor and Staff Writer for The Dance Current magazine. Upcoming projects include working with m-body (Davida Monk) and presenting work at the Calgary Fringe Festival 2010.
Faye Stollery
Faye is thrilled to say that this is her 5th year with Nextfest. This year she performs in Paula & Strom. She recently graduated with a BA Drama Honors Degree from the University of Alberta. Select performances include: Sweet Pea & Dumpy in Coming (Faemie Productions), The Flood (Mischief & Mayhem Theatre), One Hundred Days of Sunlight (Nextfest) & A Midsummer Night’s Dream (U of A). Select directing: Urban Tales 12 (NLT) & Vin-Oh
(U of A).